PKR: MACC arrest an attempt to stain DCM's office

Penang PKR has denounced the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Mansor Othman's aide for alleged bribery as an attempt to damage the reputation and credibility of the office.

State PKR vice-chairperson S Raveentharan said yesterday that party lawyers would go all out to defend Mansor's aide.

"There is no shred of evidence to link the aide to bribery. They should not point fingers if they do not have evidence," said Raveentharan, who is also Batu Uban assemblyperson.

It is learnt that a team of lawyers would be defending the aide, but it is still uncertain when he would be charged in court. He is currently out on police bail.

Mansor's aide and two others, including former Seberang Perai Tengah district officer (DO) Roslan Yahya (right), were nabbed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Jan 3 in mainland Penang.

The trio was arrested for allegedly offering a bribe of RM30,000 to a clerk to persuade her to drop her complaint of sexual harassment against Roslan, who was replaced as DO in the wake of the arrests.

'A private matter'

Raveentharan, who is a trained lawyer, said Mansor's 56-year-old aide had merely driven the former DO to the venue - a nasi kandar joint in Seberang Jaya - to meet the woman and her husband.

It is learnt that the couple are PKR members and their complaint had surfaced about two years ago but no solution was found then.

Raveentharan said it was a "private matter" between the former DO and the couple, and Mansor's aide had no involvement in the matter.

"Being a DCM's aide, he was surely under scrutiny as we practise CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) in Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's government," he said.

"This incident creates the impression that the DCM's office was somehow involved in the incident. This is totally untrue," he exclaimed.

"The aide did not know where the money came from. In some cases, an aggrieved party wants to settle the issue. He or she should be free to do so," he stressed.

Raveentharan said that so far allegations made against Mansor's aide were based on "assumptions".

He questioned why the aide was nabbed by the MACC although the investigation into the matter was still ongoing.

"What is the nature of his offence? We do not know. We have no details. This is totally unfair," said Raveentharan.

Possible political vendetta

Raveentharan added that he suspected the arrest of the former DO and Mansor's aide could be for political reasons.

According to him, the former DO, who was the returning officer for the 2004 general election, had instructed a recount of the Permatang Pauh votes.

"Following the recount, PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail won with a slim majority," he recalled.

In that year, the opposition - Barisan Alternatif - had performed badly, leaving Wan Azizah as the only MP from PKR.

"This looks like revenge and it also looks like Umno is involved in this," he alleged.

Raveentharan questioned the agenda of those behind the arrest of the civil servant.

"Were there any contracts or tenders approved? This is more a case of entrapment where an agent provocateur was used to get the former DO into trouble."